Financial results are the leadership metric that gets the most attention, but here’s what the ‘total package’ of leadership results looks like. ‘What a great job he’s done!’ ‘She must be one of the best CEOs in the industry!’ “We’re lucky he agreed to come on board when he did!” You’ve heard remarks like that before and maybe uttered the same a few times yourself, but what inspires us to say such things? It could be because a highly skilled leader took the helm and set an enterprise back on course, it could be because an executive led a business to new heights and of course, it could be that an individual transformed a great idea into a thriving fast-track startup.
Do they all have leadership attributes in common? You bet! Money is the most attention-getting measure of their leadership, you know, metrics like profits/profitability, growth, share price, shareholder equity and more. All are important, some critical; dollars are the first way to keep ‘score.’ But, because of the influence they have on the sustainability of an enterprise, other leadership results deserve equal weight. Some are penned more often than others; here are but a few of those results that I admire most.
I’ve been inside well over one hundred enterprises. Most all were focused on the metrics but also pursed the ‘total package’ leadership results listed above. From both my observation and my personal experience, doing so is not always easy, but doing so almost inevitably improves the ‘score!’ Adverse economic conditions, predatory competitors and changing market dynamics can all distract, and when they do, is it worth it to stay the course? Customers, employees and shareholders would likely agree…an ecumenical approach to leadership has its own rewards.
Lesson learned.
By Fred Engelfried
Source: Chief Executive
CEOs are spending more time on making the business case for their environmental and social commitments, and they’re building more rigorous mechanisms for addressing thorny issues and mitigating PR risks. To avoid communications missteps, CEOs should ensure they have the organizational capabilities and tools in place to monitor and analyze emerging issues and to gauge the sentiment of key stakeholders.
The vast majority of business leaders responding to a recent survey said they’re concerned they can’t train employees quickly enough to keep up with AI and tech developments in the next three years. A similar amount said AI and other tech disruptions will require companies to rethink skills, resources and new ways of doing work.
If you were to ask a random person on the street what an HR professional does, their answer would probably be conflict resolution, or that HR folks deal with employee salaries and benefits. And while that is part of an HR professional’s responsibilities — to ensure employee safety, respect and accountability — that doesn’t even scratch the surface.
